2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by seventh-year head coach Mark Montgomery,[1] played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in last place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Kent State.

2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record13–19 (6–12 MAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachJon Borovich
Assistant coaches
  • Lamar Chapman
  • Brandon Watkins
Home arenaConvocation Center
Seasons
2017–18 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Buffalo 15 3   .833 27 9   .750
Kent State 9 9   .500 17 17   .500
Miami (OH) 8 10   .444 16 18   .471
Bowling Green 7 11   .389 16 16   .500
Ohio 7 11   .389 14 17   .452
Akron 6 12   .333 14 18   .438
West
Toledo 13 5   .722 23 11   .676
Eastern Michigan 11 7   .611 22 13   .629
Ball State 10 8   .556 19 13   .594
Western Michigan 9 9   .500 17 15   .531
Central Michigan 7 11   .389 21 15   .583
Northern Illinois 6 12   .333 13 19   .406
2018 MAC tournament winner

Previous season edit

The Huskies finished the 2016–17 season 15–17, 7–11 in MAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the West Division. As the No. 9 seed in the MAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan.[2]

Offseason edit

Coaching changes edit

Following the season, assistant coach Lou Dawkins left the school to take an assistant coach position at Cleveland State.[3][4] Assistant coach Jason Larson was not retained by the school following the season.[3]

On April 28, 2017, the school hired Lamar Chapman as an assistant coach.[5] On October 12, Brandon Watkins was hired as an assistant to round out the coaching staff.[6]

Departures edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Dontel Highsmith 34 G 6'2" 200 Senior Dowagiac, MI Graduated and transferred to Cleveland State
Marin Maric 34 C 6'11" 250 Senior Split, Croatia Graduated and transferred to DePaul
Laytwan Porter 14 G 6'2" 165 Sophomore Rockford, IL Transferred
Nick Wagner 14 G 6'3" 190 Freshman Galesville, WI Transferred
Marshawn Wilson 14 G 6'3" 205 Sophomore Oakdale, MN Left school during season[7]

2017 recruiting class edit

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Safir 'Gairges' Daow
SG
Australia Victory Rock Prep School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) N/A  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Eugene 'Marlo' Brown
SF
Detroit, MI DME Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Owen Hamilton
#37 C
Prescott, WI Prescott High School 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sep 18, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Rod Henry-Hayes
SG
Zion, IL Zion-Benton Township High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2016.

Source[8]

Schedule and results edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
7:00 pm
St. Francis (IL)
Postponed (Unsafe court conditions), Make-up Nov 16[9]
Convocation Center 
DeKalb, IL
Nov 14, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Green Bay W 85–65  1–0
Convocation Center (858)
DeKalb, IL
Nov 16, 2017*
7:00 pm
St. Francis (IL) W 70–60  2–0
Convocation Center (514)
DeKalb, IL
Nov 20, 2017*
4:00 pm, Flohoops.com
vs. Penn
Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals
L 80–93  2–1
Germain Arena (823)
Estero, FL
Nov 21, 2017*
12:30 pm, Flohoops.com
vs. Florida Atlantic
Gulf Coast Showcase consolation round
L 67–77  2–2
Germain Arena (841)
Estero, FL
Nov 22, 2017*
10:00 am, Flohoops.com
vs. Manhattan
Gulf Coast Showcase 7th place game
W 70–68  3–2
Germain Arena (868)
Estero, FL
Nov 26, 2017*
3:30 pm
Rockford W 105–53  4–2
Convocation Center (649)
DeKalb, IL
Nov 29, 2017*
8:30 pm, ESPN3
Milwaukee L 62–75  4–3
Convocation Center (1,216)
DeKalb, IL
Dec 2, 2017*
2:05 PM, WAC Digital Network
at Chicago State W 95–77  5–3
Jones Convocation Center (463)
Chicago, IL
Dec 4, 2017*
8:00 PM, ESPNU
at Iowa State L 80–94  5–4
Hilton Coliseum (13,894)
Ames, IA
Dec 9, 2017*
12:00 pm, ESPN3
Central Connecticut W 61–55  6–4
Convocation Center (641)
DeKalb, IL
Dec 18, 2017*
6:00 pm, FS1
at Marquette L 70–79  6–5
BMO Harris Bradley Center (12,532)
Milwaukee, WI
Dec 21, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
UIC W 69–63  7–5
Convocation Center (889)
Dekalb, IL
Dec 29, 2017*
7:00 PM, BTN Plus
at Iowa L 75–98  7–6
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,665)
Iowa City, IA
MAC regular season
Jan 2, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Kent State W 75–61  8–6
(1–0)
Convocation Center (918)
DeKalb, IL
Jan 6, 2018
2:30 pm, ESPN3
at Ohio L 68–78  8–7
(1–1)
Convocation Center (7,066)
Athens, OH
Jan 9, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Bowling Green L 57–66  8–8
(1–2)
Stroh Center (2,013)
Bowling Green, OH
Jan 13, 2018
3:30 pm, ESPN3
Eastern Michigan W 72–66  9–8
(2–2)
Convocation Center (1,144)
DeKalb, IL
Jan 16, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Buffalo L 67–95  9–9
(2–3)
Alumni Arena (2,098)
Amherst, NY
Jan 20, 2018
1:00 pm, ESPN3
at Akron L 67–82  9–10
(2–4)
James A. Rhodes Arena (3,378)
Akron, OH
Jan 23, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Bowling Green W 93–62  10–10
(3–4)
Convocation Center (883)
DeKalb, IL
Jan 27, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Western Michigan L 72–79  10–11
(3–5)
University Arena (3,116)
Kalamazoo, MI
Jan 30, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Central Michigan L 67–81  10–12
(3–6)
McGuirk Arena (1,820)
Mount Pleasant, MI
Feb 3, 2018
3:30 pm, ESPN3
Miami (OH) L 65–81  10–13
(3–7)
Convocation Center (1,280)
DeKalb, IL
Feb 6, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Toledo L 77–82  10–14
(3–8)
Savage Arena (3,861)
Toledo, OH
Feb 10, 2018
3:30 pm, ESPN3
Buffalo W 90–88 OT 11–14
(4–8)
Convocation Center (1,565)
DeKalb, IL
Feb 13, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Central Michigan L 72–80  11–15
(4–9)
Convocation Center (799)
DeKalb, IL
Feb 17, 2018
3:30 pm, ESPN3
Western Michigan W 75–67  12–15
(5–9)
Convocation Center (1,743)
DeKalb, IL
Feb 20, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Ball State L 68–77  12–16
(5–10)
Worthen Arena (3,745)
Muncie, IN
Feb 24, 2018
11:00 am, ESPN3
at Eastern Michigan L 53–82  12–17
(5–11)
Convocation Center (1,821)
Ypsilanti, MI
Feb 27, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Toledo L 67–97  12–18
(5–12)
Convocation Center (869)
DeKalb, IL
Mar 2, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Ball State W 66–65  13–18
(6–12)
Convocation Center (1,007)
DeKalb, IL
MAC tournament
Mar 5, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
(12) at (5) Kent State
First round
L 59–61  13–19
MAC Center (2,024)
Kent, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[10]

References edit

  1. ^ Burton, Tom. "Coach's seat gets warmer". Northern Star Online. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Northern Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan – Game Recap – March 6, 2017 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Nicol, Scott A. "Men's basketball staff sees shake up". Northern Star Online. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "Cleveland State University". Cleveland State University. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "Lamar Chapman Joins NIU Men's Basketball Staff – Northern Illinois University". NIU Athletics. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  6. ^ Garcia, Eddie. "Alumnus becomes assistant men's basketball coach". Northern Star Online. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Men's basketball: Wilson, NIU part ways". Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Verbal Commits". www.verbalcommits.com. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  9. ^ Men's Basketball Season Opener Postponed
  10. ^ "Men's Basketball vs Marquette on 12/18/2017 - Box Score".